On-call and waiting time pay

Short answer

Whether you must be paid depends on the type of “waiting” and where you are required to be. As a general rule, if your employer requires you to be present at or near the workplace and available for work, that time counts as working time for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes and must be paid, even if you are not actually given anything to do. The main exception is genuine “sleep-in” shifts, where you are only paid for time you are actually awake and working. There is also a separate question about how “on call” time is treated under the Working Time Regulations 1998, which is not the same thing as pay.

Waiting time at the workplace

Time when you are at the workplace, required to be available for work, generally counts for NMW purposes whether or not the employer actually gives you work. This includes situations such as waiting to collect goods, waiting to start a job, waiting to meet someone, or being kept at the workplace during a machine breakdown. It makes no difference that you are idle. The key factors are that your employer requires your presence at a specified place and time, and you comply. Rest breaks that you actually take are not counted.

So if you are told to stay on the premises and be ready, that waiting time is working time and must be paid at least the minimum wage.

On-call and standby time

The treatment of on-call time turns on where you are required to be:

If you are required to be on standby or on call at or near your workplace, that time is treated as working time for NMW and must be paid.

If you are on call but permitted to be at home (or otherwise free to be away from the workplace), the time is generally not treated as working time for NMW purposes. You would then only be entitled to be paid for periods when you are actually called out and working, unless your contract provides for something more generous.

The dividing line is essentially how restricted you are. Being confined to or near the workplace and required to remain available points towards payable working time. Being free to be at home and to spend the time largely as you wish points away from it.

The sleep-in exception

There is an important exception for shifts where you are permitted to sleep and are provided with suitable sleeping facilities. Following the Supreme Court decision in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake (2021), workers on a genuine sleep-in shift are only entitled to the minimum wage for the periods when they are actually awake for the purpose of working, not for the whole shift spent asleep. If your role is essentially to be present and asleep, ready to be woken if needed, only the hours you are awake and working attract NMW. This is a narrow exception and depends on the true nature of the arrangement.

Working Time Regulations are a separate question

Do not confuse the right to be paid with the classification of time under the Working Time Regulations 1998. Time can count as “working time” for the purposes of rest breaks, the 48-hour weekly limit and daily and weekly rest, without automatically triggering an obligation to pay for it, and vice versa. The pay question is governed mainly by the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, while limits on hours and rest are governed by the 1998 Regulations. It is quite possible for on-call time at the workplace to count as working time for both purposes.

What your contract says matters

Everything above sets the legal minimum. Your contract of employment, or a collective agreement, may provide for more generous payment, for example a flat on-call allowance, an enhanced rate, or full pay for the whole shift. If your contract promises payment for on-call or waiting time, that is enforceable as a contractual right even where the NMW rules would not strictly require it. So the answer to whether you must be paid can come from either the NMW rules or your contract, and you should check both.

Key facts that would change the answer

To give a firmer answer, the following would matter:

1. Are you required to remain at or near the workplace, or are you free to be at home during the on-call period?

2. Are you permitted to sleep, and are sleeping facilities provided, which could bring the sleep-in exception into play?

3. What does your contract or staff handbook say about on-call, standby or waiting time and any allowance?

4. Is your pay salaried, time work, output work or unmeasured work, as the NMW rules apply slightly differently to each?

5. Once any waiting or on-call time is counted, does your total pay for the pay reference period still divide out to at least the applicable NMW rate?

Practical next steps

1. Check your contract and any staff handbook or on-call policy for what they say about payment for waiting and on-call time.

2. Keep a clear record of the times you are required to be present or available, when you are called out, and when you are actually working, so you can show how many payable hours you did.

3. Work out whether, once the relevant hours are included, your average pay for the period falls below the current minimum wage. If it does, you likely have an underpayment claim.

4. Raise it informally first with your employer or payroll, then in a written grievance if needed, setting out the hours and the rules above.

5. If it is not resolved, you can report a minimum wage underpayment to HMRC, which can investigate and require back pay, and you can also bring a claim for unlawful deduction from wages or breach of contract in the employment tribunal, normally within three months less one day of the underpayment or the last in a series of deductions. ACAS early conciliation is a required step before a tribunal claim, and ACAS can also advise on the position.

If you tell me whether you are kept at the workplace or free to be at home, whether sleeping is involved, and what your contract says, I can give you a more precise answer on your specific arrangement.